Roads Untraveled
by PokePotterfan93
Summary: For Round 2 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction contest. Harry comforts Hermione after witnessing her running after Ron kissed Lavender, he tells her some truths she needed to hear. Inspired by Roads Untraveled by Linkin Park.


**Roads Untravelled**

Hermione was upset; she was really upset. She hadn't planned on falling in love with Ron during third year, but she was glad she did. Then _she_ came along, Lavender Brown. She had just watched Ron snogging Lavender after the match and ran off crying.

Although she wouldn't admit it, Hermione had her love life with Ron planned out – though the thought now embarrassed her. She had always imagined Ron and herself having a couple of kids – her working in the Ministry and Ron probably working for the Chudley Cannons he loved so much.

Now – now all those plans were gone. She knew Ron wasn't the smartest guy in the school; he had a one track brain of food, Quidditch, and looking at some girl's arse every day. Now all her dreams were gone and the path she had created was filled with potholes, so she sat there, weeping at the lost future.

Harry eventually caught up with her and saw her weeping. He sat beside her and held her while she cried her eyes out. He had done the same when he saw Dean and Ginny, he'd had their life planned out a little too, and it was one that no longer existed.

"Don't cry Hermione, not for a future that didn't exist to begin with. Don't cry because you'll never see that red haired baby girl with green eyes that'll look like your mother." Harry whispered, rocking her. "Don't weep because they won't be beside you when you wake up."

"Don't think of all that stuff Hermione, because it will tear you apart. That's a road you've never really walked, Hermione; it doesn't exist yet so you can change all the bad stuff that could've been." He cupped her face and wiped away her tears. She sniffled and just stared into his eyes.

Harry hugged her tightly and smiled softly. "Look, I did the same thing that you're doing now. I just laid in my bed and cried, think about Ginny and me, getting married, having kids, being the parents mine didn't get to be fully." He whispered and rubbed her back.

"All you'll get is a pain that never ends, Hermione, and it's not something you want—" He said, staring out the window and sighing, "—pain from thinking of what the kids will look like and pain from seeing their non-existent faces on Christmas morning or on their birthdays."

"Harry –"

"No, Hermione, let me tell you this, please." He cut her off and smiled sadly at her. "I know how much you love him, but we both know she has her hooks in him now. She won't give him up, and he'll be so happy with the attention he's giving her that he won't want to leave her." He held her closely in his arms and soothed her. "All I'm saying is, Hermione, you don't have to weep for something that hasn't happened yet."

Hermione nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder, thinking of everything he had just said. She thought of little Rose she was going to name after her paternal grandmother and of little Hugo, who would have been named after her late uncle who used to bring her on horse rides when she was young. Then her thoughts turned to being Mrs. Hermione Weasley, a secret passion of hers that she had never told anyone.

Harry smiled at her and stared into her eyes. "He's an idiot; he chose a pair of tits and blonde hair instead of a brunette with brains that most people would murder to have – a woman who is kind and caring and will always be there for him whenever he needs her, a caring soul who has always had my back and who will always have it no matter what – and a person who cares enough about a life that never happened that she sits on this cold ground crying about it."

Hermione stared back into those eyes, those emerald windows to his soul that she never truly saw. Her life with Ron was something that didn't exist and yet here she was, weeping over it. And who was it that came to see if she was okay? Harry. It was always Harry, and she knew why, the whole brother/sister thing between them started at the end of third year… _third year_. It all made sense to her now; he loved her, and he hid it so she'd be happy. He probably chose Ginny because she was Ron's sister and friends with her.

She smiled softly as he said all those beautiful things to her. She didn't think all of it was true, true she was smart and she was always there for him and she knew she always would be. His words touched her completely. She knew that he meant every word and beamed at him.

"And don't get this wrong, Hermione, Ron's my friend too… but he isn't the man for you. He's lazy, has the table manners of a starving pig, and he would never treat you the way you deserve to be treated." Harry wiped the tears from her unblemished, flawless and makeup-less face that most girls would kill for.

"You don't need makeup to look pretty, you don't run around with all the guys, and you never gossip." He smiled. "Ron wants someone who'll spread her legs and one day someone who will sit at home as a housewife. That's not you, Hermione. You're going to be the best person ever, you're going to be in the Ministry, and you will change it all – and no matter what Hermione, I'll always be here for you."

Hermione smiled softly and tenderly wrapped her arms around Harry for comfort. That last statement was all she needed to hear; Harry was right. It was a road she hadn't travelled, but now she had a new path – and she had someone to take it with.

**A/N: Second round needed a song. As Seeker I was to choose one from the same artist/group as the Captain. I chose roads untraveled by Linkin Park. The lyrics that inspired me were 'Weep not roads untraveled', ''Cause beyond every turn is a long blinding end', 'it's the worst kind of pain' and 'And if you need a friend there's a seat alongside me'.**


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